Yes, right...where was I?

We are still here, still alive, still well. Please pardon my absence from the blogosphere.

A quick recap of the last few months:

Snow came late to the Cariboo; there was none to speak of until late November, and there has been very little since. Today is the first really snowy day we have had for many weeks. I don't know what the total accumulation has been for the winter, but with weeks of mild days, it has added up to very little on the ground. Williams Lake, an hour north of us had no snow at all last week when we were there. The winter of 2009-2010 has been by far the mildest since our move here 4 years ago. Oh, and just before the snow came, Inman Road was paved.

Mike & Cody are in Saskatoon today...tomorrow they will make their way to Winnipeg. They were home last week, and left on Tuesday. They had almost three weeks at home over Christmas, and an unplanned return home in November for two weeks when Mike was quite ill. Some heavy duty antibiotic therapy and my expert (but sometimes unwelcome) nursing skills got him mended and back to work again.

As for me, I have been hobbling around for several months with plantar fasciitis, which feels more or less like someone is driving a railroad spike into your heel with every step. Not too pleasant. Anyway, to make a short story long...a few weeks before Christmas, and after consuming several large bottles of ibuprofen, I finally decided I should do something about that, and found a podiatrist in Kamloops (a two hour drive away) and dutifully showed up for my appointment. He did foot castings and I made an appointment to pick up my orthotics last Monday. My first clue that all was not well should have come when he asked me, "So do you go by Beatrice, or Bea?" "Karen," I replied. "Oh, right." The orthotics felt roughly like someone had sliced a lacrosse ball in half, and inserted half, round side up, into each shoe. "Weird," I thought, but what do I know about how they should feel? Everyone says they take some getting used to. I gamely limped around, and managed to keep my shoes on till we got home. The podiatrist called around 5 pm to sheepishly advise that I was in fact, in possession of Beatrice's orthotics. I acquired my very own pair yesterday, and hope for the best! I hope that Beatrice has hers now, and that her poor fallen arches get some relief.

The animals are well, all of them. Rupert is on a diet, much to his chagrin. Buck is beginning to lose his winter coat and is oh, so itchy. Molly has been going out some nights (that's how mild it's been, last year she didn't set her princess toes outside until mid March) and yesterday morning left the first mouse of the year on the doormat. The dogs are fine, and are awaiting the return of their bedding from the washer and dryer.

There you go...all up to date. Enjoy the weekend.